BWL Sponsors 17th Annual Spring Adopt A River Day - Michigan Community Service Commission to Get Involved

BWL General Manager J. Peter Lark will join hundreds of volunteers for the event, which has become a springtime tradition for many Lansing-area families.

"Since our first Adopt A River Day in 1994, we have hauled away tons of trash from the Grand and Red Cedar rivers and their riverbanks," Lark said. "The result has been - not just a cleaner riverfront - but a greater awareness of how precious the river is and how fortunate we are to have it in our midst."

Among the featured events this year will be a family-oriented "Go Green" environmental education fair. The BWL will again give out free tree saplings to volunteers, along with planting instructions and tips. The BWL has given away more than 6,000 trees in recent years, and is the recipient of the National Arbor Day Foundation Tree Line Utility Award.

Adopt A River Day is also a way to celebrate Earth Day, April 22. Some of the BWL's green initiatives include:

• Our Cedar Street Solar Array, which prevents 85 tons of greenhouse gases from being emitted each year.
• The BWL's Hometown Energy Savers ^sm  program, which offers educational resources and tangible cash incentives for air conditioners, dehumidifiers, recycling old refrigerators, and more. On April 22, BWL employees will feature energy-saving, recycling and renewable energy displays at the Lansing City Hall. On April 24, the BWL will participate in Greener Delta's Earth Day at Lansing Community College's West Campus.
• Recipient of federal funding to build a network of plug-in stations in Greater Lansing for use by all-electric vehicles.
• A landfill-gas-to-electricity project that powers more than 10,000 area homes.
• An LED streetlight project in downtown Lansing that uses 78 percent less electricity than conventional streetlights.

The BWL partners with Impression 5 Science Center to host a spring and fall Adopt A River Day. Impression 5, located along the Grand River in downtown Lansing, has administered the Adopt A River program for several years.

Adopt A River has won statewide awards for its river stewardship, and has served as a model for similar river-awareness programs in Michigan.

Here are more details about the Sunday, April 18 Adopt A River Day:

• 10 a.m. - Volunteer registration, Impression 5 Science Center.
• 11 a.m. - 1p.m. - River clean-up. Groups will fan out along the Grand and Red Cedar rivers, collecting and bagging trash.
• 1 p.m. - Free lunch for all volunteers, under the Shiawassee Street Bridge (north of the new City Market).
• commences after the river clean-up.  "Go Green" environmental education fair

For details and to register in advance, visit the BWL Web site, www.lbwl.com and click on Adopt A River. Or, contact Impression 5's Erik Larson, 485-8116, ext. 43.

BACKGROUND

The Michigan Community Service Commission (MCSC) and Learn and Serve - Michigan will join the Lansing Board of Water and Light and Impression 5 Science Center for the 2010 Adopt A River.  Their involvement coincides with the 2010 Global Youth Service Day, an international effort to engage young people in service.

The MCSC strives to engage youth in long-term service to their community as part of this year's Adopt A River.  The MCSC will distribute resource materials with ideas of how young people can become lifelong environmental stewards and encourage them to pledge to protect, clean, and preserve Michigan's waterways.  The MCSC will also share resources on how to use service-learning to bring environmental stewardship into the classroom.

For more information, visit www.michigan.gov/mcsc or www.gysd.org .